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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Preloading of bolted connections in nuclear reactor component supports

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6278683· OSTI ID:6278683
A number of failures of threaded fasteners in nuclear reactor component supports have been reported. Many of those failures were attributed to stress corrosion cracking. This report discusses how stress corrosion cracking can be avoided in bolting by controlling the maximum bolt preloads so that the sustained stresses in the bolts are below the level required to cause stress corrosion cracking. This is a basic departure from ordinary bolted joint design where the only limits on preload are on the minimum preload. Emphasis is placed on the importance of detailed analysis to determine the acceptable range of preload and the selection of a method for measuring the preload that is sufficiently accurate to ensure that the preload is actually within the acceptable range. Procedures for determining acceptable preload range are given, and the accuracy of various methods of measuring preload is discussed.
Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-84OR21400
OSTI ID:
6278683
Report Number(s):
NUREG/CR-3853; ORNL-6093; ON: TI85002952
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English